Phone call before the meeting: what was actually decided
Two coworkers, Emi and Daichi, speak on the phone. The learner hears Emi say she will finish the delivery list by five and asks Daichi to print twenty copies before she gets back. Daichi answers that the printer on the third floor is broken, so he will use the one on the first floor, which needs about ten minutes for twenty copies. Emi then says, 「じゃ、5時半に駅前の店で待っておきます。コピーは会議の前に私の机に置いておいてください」. The meeting starts at six, and Daichi mentions that he must also stop at the post office on the way back.
1. What must Daichi do with the copies, and by when, judged only from what Emi actually requested?
Read the worked answer
He must print twenty copies on the first-floor machine and leave them on Emi's desk before the meeting. Two forms carry the instruction: 置いておいてください means 'leave them in place, in advance', not 'hand them to me' - so he does not need to find Emi first. The deadline comes from context, not from a stated time: they must be on the desk before the six o'clock meeting, and since printing takes ten minutes and he still has a post-office stop, the practical margin is tight. A learner who answers 'give the copies to Emi at the shop' has misread 置いておく.
2. Where and when do they meet, and who is waiting for whom?
Read the worked answer
They meet at 5:30 at the shop in front of the station, and Emi is the one who waits. 待っておきます is 待つ + ておく, describing a state the speaker prepares in advance: Emi will go there first and be waiting. It is not a neutral 'we will wait together', and it does not mean Daichi waits. The time is fixed by 5時半に, not by the delivery-list deadline of five, which belongs to Emi's own work. Daichi's post-office stop affects whether he arrives late, but it does not change the time Emi stated.
3. A classmate answers, 「5時半に駅前の店で二人で待つ」. Identify the two reasoning errors behind that answer.
Read the worked answer
First, it treats 待っておきます as a joint plan. ておく marks a preparatory action by the speaker, so the waiting is Emi's alone; Daichi is the one being waited for. Second, it ignores sequence: Emi finishes the list by five, goes to the shop, and waits from 5:30, while Daichi prints, posts his letters and then joins her - if he is late, Emi is still standing there. The listening skill being tested is holding the speaker's viewpoint (who prepares, who moves) rather than grabbing the time and place words alone.